Chapter 16 #2
By the time we arrived at the hospital, Eliza’s contractions were even closer together than before. We checked in and were escorted to the maternity ward, where Eliza changed into her hospital gown. A few minutes later, the doctor we had seen just two days prior, walked into the room.
“Looks like the little one decided to come sooner than predicted, huh?” She went to the sink and washed her hands. “I hope you at least had some turkey to eat before coming here.”
“Barely.” Eliza laughed. “It’s hard to eat when it feels like you’re being stabbed from the inside.”
Eliza grabbed onto her stomach and screamed. I started to sweat while I waited for her contraction to stop. They were definitely getting stronger and much closer together.
Carter looked at her phone. “That was less than four minutes.”
The doctor nodded. “I’m going to get you something for the pain and then check how dilated you are.”
After getting Eliza medicated, the doctor positioned herself to check Eliza’s dilation. She nodded again. “About 6cm.”
“What does that mean?” Eliza asked, the sweat now gathering on her forehead.
“You can start pushing once you’re at 10 centimeters. That might be a half hour from now, or it could be two hours. We’ll have to wait and see.” The doctor stood up and took off her gloves. “I’ll be back in a half hour unless something else comes up sooner.”
When the doctor left the room, I pulled out my phone to text my parents. The baby is on the way!! Some time in the next few hours or so he or she will be here.
My mom’s response came through less than a minute later. We should be able to head out in a half hour or less. Should we come right to the hospital, to your house, or to a hotel?
Her response confused me. The reason my parents had stayed home for Thanksgiving was partly so they could make the long trip down to us once the baby was born, but also because they had plans with a bunch of friends and old colleagues.
For over a year, they had been planning a huge ski weekend.
Carter and I had planned on going until our lives took a crazy turn. What about skiing?
Now it was my dad who responded. This is our grandbaby. The slopes aren’t going anywhere. A moment like this only happens once.
My heart tugged and my eyes burned with tears as I read my dad’s text. Before I could respond my mom sent another one.
Our bags are already in the car (they have been for weeks), so it shouldn’t take us too long to be ready.
Apparently, Eliza and I were the only ones who didn’t pack bags ahead of time. I couldn’t believe my parents were that on top of things. If it wasn’t so adorable, it’d be bordering on psychotic.
Can’t wait to see you two. I’ll update you in a few hours about where you should go.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and joined Carter beside Eliza’s hospital bed.
Carter took my hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve never been better.”
It wasn’t a lie. I couldn’t think of a single moment in my life that I was more happy than I was right now.
Eliza took my hand that wasn’t holding Carter’s and gave me a goofy grin. “This might be the drugs talking, but I’ve never been better either.”
An hour later when she was in active labor and pushing out our baby, Eliza didn’t seem to feel the same way anymore, but I couldn’t say I blamed her for that. The pushing lasted for another hour and a half before I heard the cry of my child.
“Congratulations,” the doctor said as she held the baby. “You are the parents of a beautiful baby boy.”
I looked down at the baby in her arms. He really was beautiful. He had the littlest bit of fuzz on the top of his head and the chubbiest cheeks. Those cheeks alone probably accounted for an hour of the pushing.
Carter stood next to me and put her arm around me. “He’s perfect.”
When I looked over at her, she had tears running down her cheeks just like me. “So perfect,” I said breathlessly.
“Would you two like to cut the umbilical cord together?” the doctor asked, holding up a weird scissor-looking instrument.
I was about to say no when Carter said yes. I let her take the lead because the last thing I wanted to do was mess something up. I put my hand on top of hers and she followed the directions the doctor gave us.
After that was done, it was finally time to hold our baby. I let Carter hold him first, because I knew she had been dreaming about this moment even longer than me. Seeing our baby boy in her arms was by far the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. After a few minutes, Carter handed him over to me.
As much as I wanted to remain frozen in this moment, staring down at my boy the first time he was ever in my arms, I knew there was something more important that I needed to do. I walked over to the side of the bed and sat down beside Eliza.
“He really is beautiful. You did an amazing job.”
Carter stood on the other side of the bed and took Eliza’s hand. “You really did. We both couldn’t be more proud of you.”
“Did you two come up with a name?”
“We did.” I smiled over at Carter. We had already picked out one boy name and one girl name but wanted to surprise Eliza once he was born. “Do you want to tell her or should I?”
Carter gave me the sweetest smile that honestly would have made me melt to the ground if I wasn’t already sitting. “You can.”
“It’s Elliott Olivan Miller-Cooper,” I said proudly. It had taken a lot of lists to come to that decision.
“Is there a reason behind it?” Eliza asked.
Carter nodded. “He’s named after three of our favorite people. We realize Olivan isn’t a conventional middle name, but it was the best way we could come up with to combine Olivia and Ronan after his aunt and uncle.”
“What about Elliott? Where does that come from?”
“No guesses?” I asked with a laugh. “You can’t think of anyone else’s name that starts with the same two letters and has the same number of syllables.”
Eliza furrowed her eyebrows and began to shake her head, but stopped when it hit her. “Wait.” There was a crack in her voice. “You named him for me? I’m one of your favorite people?”
I laughed again. “Is that even a question? Of course you are.”
Tears immediately came to Eliza’s eyes. “I love you two so much.” She looked from me and Carter to the baby in my arms. “Three, sorry. I love you, Elliott. I promise to be the best big sister in the world to you.”
I held him out toward her. “Do you want to hold him?”
Eliza’s eyes went wide as if she couldn’t believe I had just asked that question. “A-are you sure? I don’t want to hurt him.”
I brought him even closer to her. “You’ve taken the best care of him these past nine months. I have no doubt you’ll continue to do that now.”
That must have been a good enough answer for Eliza, because she took Elliott and held him up against her chest. She continued to cry as she stared down at him.
“I can’t believe something so perfect came from me.
” She ran a hand over his cheek. “You’re going to have the best life ever, little guy.
You have the greatest moms in the whole world.
” Eliza smiled at me and then at Carter. “Trust me, I would know.”
With her words, my heart burst open. This was my family—my perfectly imperfect little family. The way it had been created might have been a little unconventional, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.